Community Hospital introduces 5-vehicle electric charging station

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brenda Moore (831) 625-4544

Electric car chargers that can accommodate up to five plug-in vehicles have been installed at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, including the only “fast charger” in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties.

The stations are open to Community Hospital employees and volunteers as well as the public. One of the vehicles that will regularly be charged there is Community Hospital’s new Nissan LEAF car.

The chargers were introduced Tuesday at a gas pump “hose cutting” ceremony at Community Hospital and are the latest of many hospital initiatives aimed at conserving resources and protecting the environment.

“Community Hospital has a long history of adopting environmentally friendly practices and systems, including our employee shuttle program, cogeneration of electricity, composting food waste, and a robust recycling program,” says Dr. Steven Packer, president/CEO of Community Hospital. “We’re pleased to be able to provide employees and the public with access to an alternative energy source for their vehicles as well as our own new electric car.”

Packer was joined at the hose cutting by Jeannie Lam of Nissan North America and Sharon Sarris of the Monterey Bay Electric Vehicle Alliance.

“This is now the location in the three-county area with the most charging stations,” said Sarris. “It’s a real accomplishment.”

The Nissan Sumitomo DC Fast Charger can fully charge a vehicle in about 45 minutes. The others take two-four hours.

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ABOUT COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, established in 1934, has grown and evolved in direct response to the changing healthcare needs of the people it serves. It is a nonprofit healthcare provider with 220 staffed acute-care hospital beds and 28 skilled-nursing beds, delivering a continuum of care from birth to end of life, and every stage in between. It serves the Monterey Peninsula and surrounding communities through locations including the main hospital, outpatient facilities, satellite laboratories, a mental health clinic, a short-term skilled nursing facility, Hospice of the Central Coast, and business offices. Find more information about Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula at http://www.chomp.org/